darrenj

Just browsing and found this one.. No issues at all..They are basically thr same execpt the 785 has more memory.. You still looking? I still have 2 785's and i believe 2 685's taking up space! Darrenj\

I think you took my repl a little out of context.. I said dont look at others in response to when the OP said he was confused by what others had written..as Okie said there is plenty you can look at and learn from..there is also plenty you can look at and should forget!! My first project being the prime example!! I would hate for this person to see my code and then copy it..its horrible!! However i have seen some nice work..the last machine i worked on for example..it was from the US and there was some good code there..(Documentation sucked tho)..then i went to the other machine in the same line..(It was from italy and used RSlogix 5000.) The code is ok but there is 0 rung comments and the symbols /Tags are in italian so no help there!!..It was a struggle but i got it to do what they wanted!! Ways to do and ways not to do..we see it all the time.. D

Dont look at other's!!! Sounds simple but it is effective... Everyone has there own style..Just go with what is comfortable with you.. Dint think of the whole program to start..think of lots of small programs..(I am sure someone else said this)..Start at the begining..how does the machine start..Look at that and only that...then whats that is done look at what happens next..then do that...etc..etc.. you will find its not that bad if you break it down..if you look at the whole thing in one shot it becomes overwhelming.. i am lucky..i have a plant that will let me "test" in.. I did a machine last year (The project i spoke of in my first post in this thread" and, on my own time, i re write parts of the logic, just to make it better or take advantage of some of the things i have learned since then..They don't mind if i show up on Saturday and download them and test them..heck if it doesn't work i reload the program and they are away come Monday morning..if i leave the "test" program in then i make sure i am there on Monday to make sure everything goes smothly..(Not hard seeing as i spend about 2/3 of my week there anyway.. anyway..as i said don't look at the whole project to begin with..look at parts of it..If there is a part that you cannot figure out how to do..ask here but go on to the rest..I am sure many people here will help you thru the tough spots..

Again a most usefull post by Ron B Qyick question..along the same lines.. Can a timer keep timing during a power outage?? Say i have to bake something for 20 mins..oven temp is perfect and the product has been in for 15 mins..(Now i know the over will retain its heat for say 15 mins before begining to drop off)..Now power fails for 3 mins..hen power is reaplied do those 3 mins still count?..or will the cycle continue for the remainder 5 mins.. (Yep i know about RTO just wondering if the RTO still ticks when power is off..never tried it myself....) D

You hit the nail on the head...Communication is the key here..I grew up in the age where you dont talk about sex,think about sex or do sex.. Learnt all about the birds and the bees from friends,who got it from there friends..and so on.. I prefer to be open and honest..got a question..I would rather my daughter or son heard the answer from me.. Speaking of that..i had dinner a friends house last year and she and her mother and father were like this..The dinner conversation was quite interesting!!!! But i sat back and watched them talk..Its how it should be..talking.. Sorry for taking this thread off course but if any of you have kids i hope you understand.. D BTW TWcontrols..so its o.k. if i use that line the next time i make a mistake?? D

Perhaps you could also post you question over at plc's.net..Mr. Granby the pres of red lion frequents there quite often..i am sure he could help you out.. D

Different life now..hell the last study i read said girls..(YEP GIRLS!) were now sexualy active at the age of 12......WTF... I am dreading the day my daughter goes to high school..I try to think back to when i was 12..i dont think i even gave girls a second glance at that age... 14 and on line??? Hell i was almost 20ish before the internet became popular... The other thing that gets me is parents are blaming the site..thats just a cop out..YOU are resonsible for your kids actions at that age..its up to the parent to keep tabs on the kids... Its like me saying to the plant thats down.."hey dont blame me..blame TWControls...he said it would work..."..Sorry TW..just using you as an example..i know you would never give bad advise! :) Be accountable for your own actions..and you 14 year olds for god sake.. I just read Rons link...it talk about 12-14 year old girls having concential sex...How can a 12-14 year old concent to anything.... Sorry to rant..it just make my blood boil......

Thats what Rons warning was about..Myspace is mostly used by teenagers..Dateline and NBC did a big sting using myspace..It was all about child porn and underage sex..during that "sting" they got about 30 or 40 men to come over to house to have sex with a 14 year old...of course the 14 year old tuned out to be Butch the police officer..Can you believe the first one they got was a freaking school teacher??? makes ya sick... D

Last year i did a complete overhaul on a carton filling machine..I chose RS5000 and control logix as my platform. The existing controller was an old PIC409 controller..made obsolete, The manufacture of the machine sat on the fence for a while about sharing the program then decided against it..So i grabbed the maintinance manual and read it about 100times..I then spent about 3 weeks on the floor watching the machine,talking to the mechanics and operators..asking..what does this do..what happens if.. After that i hid myself in a corner of the plant and started to write my code..Then the big day came!!..The machine was sceduled out for 2 weeks for my retrofit..on the first day i had removed the old controller and all the old cableing..This was my first do or die programming project and it was a big one..so after that first day i sat down and stared at the big hole where the "guts" used to be and asked myself just what the hell did i get myself into!!! after 3 days of mounting,grunting and mild panic attacks it was power up time!!..All went well!!! There was a couple of minor glitches but we were testing on day 5 and ready for production on day 7..then the mechanics did some overhaul and were back up and running in the 2 week time period..The amount of pride i felt the day i went home after a full days production with no problem was undescribable..Even better was to find out the manufacture of the machine was doing the same thing at another plant and it took them 3 weeks!!! and they had major problem for about 2 weeks after that!! All being said i guess my point is research..as panic mode said..writing the code is the easy part.. After all was running well the operators and mechanics came to me for "extra's" to make there life easier..and again as Panic mode has said without thaught the program turned into a bit of a mess..I am now looking at another machine almost the same whoever i plan on a complete re write of the code..something easier to follow and more stuctured,no kind of pieced together like the other one looks now.. I am not to hard on myself now..i know it comes with experiance..at least i can look at it and say "I did this wrong then..how can i fix that on another" This was probibly a little easier for me than most becouse i write the program and do the install and trouble shooting.. Also to repeat what Sleepy wombat said..get out in the field and get your hands dirty..reading about how to do something is not the same as doing it..as we always say when we look at some desighns.."it looks good on paper..however..." Good luck and hope you feel the rush the first time you push the start (Just make sure you have one hand over the stop button!!!!) D

I do agree with you...however...:) One of the last jobs i did they had a a machine conneceted to the network for remote troubleshooting (It was made in italy and they wanted to be able to download/troubleshoot from there..) The set up was a compact logix with HMI using Ethernet and it had a router built in to the cabinet..IT just plugged in a cable to the LAN from the existing router and gave me the IP addy's to use..after i programmed it i wandered around the plant and set up in an office on the second floor..Plugged my lap top in started RSlinx and There was the PLC..Its kinda cool knowing that no matter where i was in the plant i could connect but a little scary to know someone can take control and program without seeing the machine.. I guess i can see the pros and cons..but i think there are more cons than pros...

Check out the hardware cost..AB is cheaper..I troubleshoot, tweak and change programs more than create and most of my work was done on the modicon system, One gripe my customer had with them was the ever changing product line and parent company, (The plant has been running less than 15 years and we just had to pull out all the PLC's and replace with new due to old being obsolete.) I have had some good luck with there tech support tho..(Apart from one time) I just called the direct line and spoke with the guys. They were helpful and when they said they would look into something and call me back they did, Sent me an update for Modsoft when i needed it to connect to a particular PLC that didnt like the version i had (Even tho it was supported)..The cost for this?? $0.00 Now AB will usualy right you a 90 day pass the first time you call and most will overlook the fact that it expired if the problem is fairly easy to solve but others are sticklers!! So you pay in one area and make it up in others...6 of one 1/2 dozen of another..

I haven't had much luck with non isolated outputs controlling multiple drives..Let the magic smoke out of one of them..:( I now always use a loop isolator just to be safe..I use a wiedmuler (Sp?) and it cost about $130..Multiple configs..0-20 4-20 -10-+10 input to all of the same output.. New board for obsolete drive..priceless loop isolator $130.00 I learned my lesson!!

I agree with TW. I make my tags descriptive..I know its a memory hog but it makes life easier than referning to seperate sheets to figure out what LS243 Is..An example of mine North_west_door_switch (Bool) Analog_main_tank_pressure You can go to a program in the middle of the night without any documention and still follow the program..If North_west_door_switch is stopping the machine from running you know where it is..a whole lot easier than trying to figure out LS243 Just my opinion D

I have never done it but came across this while trying to set up KEPserver You have to export it from NxT rather that importing from concept.. The other this is to make sure the symbol box is checked (Cant remember where that is) or it will not transfer any of the documentation..

thanks for the replies! it looks like i will be going TCP/IP so i hope the KEPserver is as easy as you say Ken! Thnaks Darren